Version 2.02 now available for download has fixed problems with some windows machines in viewing the Help file and in selecting data to copy and paste.

BEAST grew out of a need for computerized event recording in Ethological research in Dr. George Losey's laboratory at the Dept. of Zoology and the Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology at the University of Hawai'i. As it matured, more and more statistical analysis routines were added until it formed a complete analysis system for Windows PC's. It has now been revised to operate within Windows XP and more modern processors.

BEAST begins with continuous time event recording in which your computer keyboard becomes an event recorder. After acquiring data with the event recorder, data preparation routines allow you to create new logical combinations of events. Editors allow you to alter individual instances of any event and to create alphanumeric names for your events. Statistical analysis concentrates on problems typical in behavioral and ethological studies. They start with basic description of durations and counts. Individual event structure is examined as distribution over the observation period and distribution of intervals and bouts. Relationships between events rely on sequence analysis between pairs of events and lists of events that favor analysis of communication and structure of behavioral determinants within an individual. Graphic ethograms are drawn and allow you to what statistic is used to generate arrows between events.

Complete tutorials cover most of the procedures with step-by-step instructions and sample data taken from published research.